Abstract:

In February 2024, an increase of 1.5ºC in the mean annual temperature was registered; this means that the limit set in the Paris agreement for 2050 has been exceeded. The buildings and construction sector is by far the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for a staggering 37% of global emissions. Moreover, 50% of the carbon emissions projected for the building sector by 2050 have no plan to counteract them . In order to reverse the forecasts, it is a must for all the agents involved in the Construction sector to align their decisions with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The university has a commitment to the society and it must ensure that the graduate students develop the necessary sensitivity to face the future challenges. Among other, the university must show the impact of decisions on sustainability; moreover, in technical degrees. With the aim of promoting awareness of sustainable development among students, the teaching team in the area of Construction Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering in Bilbao (UPV/EHU) launched the innovative teaching project “ODSEraiki”, aimed at promoting sustainability in decision making process. By means of project-based learning methodology, students had to develop a partial building design project and justify all decisions made along the process under the premise of sustainable development, considering all the dimensions (economic, social and environmental).

The research sums up the results of the work done among students of the last course of Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering and Master's Degree in Industrial Engineering. It is worth noting the lack of knowledge of the majority of students about the SDGs. A high percentage said that during the course of the bachelor's/master's degree they worked little or nothing on sustainability. After the implementation of this project, a majority said that they have changed their attitude towards sustainability and social responsibility thanks to the project and are aware of the impact of their activity on sustainability.

Keywords:

Project based learning, active learning, Sustainable Development Goals, construction sector.